Abstrict

A baby monitor transmitter is provided for use in combination with
a receiver unit. The transmitter includes an arcuately shaped antenna
which conforms to an arcuate shape of an upper edge of the transmitter
housing. The antenna may be pivoted outwardly away from the housing
to a plurality of predetermined positions. In addition, the transmitter
includes a clip member which may be used to hang the transmitter
on various supporting surfaces. The clip member includes a vertical
leg extending parallel to a rear surface of the transmitter and
the vertical leg may be moved toward and away from the housing in
order to accommodate supporting structures of different sizes.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A transmitter for use in monitoring a baby, said transmitter
comprising:

a housing defining front an rear sides,

opposite upper and lower edges and opposing first and second lateral
edges connecting said front and rear sides,

an antenna portion extending between said first and second lateral
edges, said antenna portion including opposing end portions extending
into said housing adjacent to said lateral edges,

pivotal mounting means adjacent to said antenna portion ends for
mounting said antenna portion ends to said housing for pivotal movement
whereby said antenna portion may be pivoted outwardly away from
said housing, and

wherein said housing defines upper and lower portions located adjacent
to said upper and lower edges, respectively, said upper and lower
portions being disposed at an obtuse angle relative to each other,
said antenna portion being attached to said upper portion.

2. The transmitter of claim 1, said housing further including means
defining a battery compartment in said rear side and within said
lower portion, said battery compartment being adapted to receive
a plurality of double A batteries.

3. A transmitter for use in monitoring a baby, said transmitter
comprising:

a housing defining front and rear sides,

opposing upper and lower edges and opposing first and second lateral
edges connecting said front and rear sides,

means defining an aperture in said rear side,

a clip member including a horizontal extension member extending
through said aperture and a vertical member extending substantially
parallel to said rear side, said extension member including a surface
having a plurality of grooves formed therein and being mounted for
sliding movement into and out of said aperture in a direction perpendicular
to said rear side, and

pawl means attached to said housing for engaging said grooves in
said extending member whereby said vertical member may be selectively
positioned at a plurality of predetermined positions spaced from
said rear side of said housing.

4. The transmitter of claim 3, including an antenna portion extending
between said first and second lateral edges, said antenna portion
including opposing end portions extending into said housing adjacent
to said lateral edges and pivotal mounting means adjacent to said
antenna portion ends for mounting said antenna portion ends to said
housing for pivotal movement whereby said antenna portion may be
pivoted outwardly away from said housing.

5. The transmitter of claim 4, wherein said pivotal mounting means
adjacent to one of said antenna portion ends includes cooperating
detent and recess means, said detent and recess means being movable
relative to each other during said pivotal movement of said antenna
portion whereby discrete angularly spaced positions are defined
for said antenna portion.

6. The transmitter of claim 5, including resilient means located
inside said housing for resiliently biasing said detent and recess
means into cooperating engagement whereby said antenna portion is
temporarily prevented from pivoting in an angular direction relative
to said housing.

7. A transmitter for use in monitoring a baby, said transmitter
comprising:

a housing defining front and rear faces,

upper and lower housing portions oriented at an obtuse angle relative
to each other,

a peripheral upper edge of said housing connecting a first front
face portion of said housing with said first rear face portion,
said upper edge including opposing parallel surfaces connected by
an arcuate portion,

a groove formed in said first front face portion positioned adjacent
to and extending parallel to said upper edge,

an antenna including first and second parallel legs connected by
an arcuate section, said antenna adapted to be received within said
groove,

first and second pivot connections for connecting an end of each
of said legs to said housing for pivotal movement, one of said pivot
connections including cooperating detent and recess means whereby
said detent means may move to a plurality of positions relative
to said recess means to define different predetermined positions
for said antenna,

coil spring means for biasing said detent and recess means into
cooperating engagement with each other,

means defining an aperture in said front face for permitting passage
of sound from a point exterior of said housing to a microphone located
within said housing,

means defining an aperture in said rear face,

a belt clip member including a vertical leg extending along said
rear face and a horizontal leg slidably received through said aperture
in said rear face, said horizon leg having a plurality of grooves
formed in a surface thereof, and

pawl means attached to said housing adjacent to said aperture in
said rear face for engaging said grooves in said surface of said
horizontal leg whereby said vertical leg may be located in a plurality
of predetermined positions in spaced relation to said rear face.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a baby monitor and, more particularly,
to a transmitter for use in combination with a receiver to monitor
the sounds made by a baby.

Baby monitors are increasingly used by parents to monitor a baby
while the parent goes to a different location away from the baby
such as a different room or outside of the house while the baby
is sleeping. The typical baby monitor includes a transmitter or
baby unit and a receiver or parent unit wherein the baby unit transmits
sounds from the baby to the parent unit and, in some monitoring
systems, the parent unit may also transmit the parent's voice to
the baby unit.

In known prior art baby monitoring units, the unit is designed
to lay flat on its back on a table, or in some instances, also be
mounted to a wall. Further, it is known to provide both the baby
and parent unit with volume adjustment knobs whereby the sound being
transmitted by the baby unit must be above a certain level and the
loudness of the sound emitted by the parent unit may be controlled.

It is also known to provide an LED display such that the audio
transmission on the parent unit may be shut off and a series of
LED lights will light up on the planar front face of the parent
unit wherein the number of LED lights displayed will correspond
to the loudness of the sound being transmitted by the baby unit.

In the use of prior art baby monitoring systems, there has been
a need for baby units which may be mounted in a greater variety
of locations as well as units which have a great ease of portability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a transmitter for use in monitoring
a baby wherein the transmitter includes a housing defining front
and rear faces or sides connected by upper and lower edges and opposing
first and second lateral edges.

An antenna is provided extending between the first and second lateral
edges and includes opposing end portions extending into the housing
adjacent to the lateral edges. The end portions are attached to
the housing by pivotal mounting means which support the antenna
for pivotal movement outwardly away from the housing.

In addition, a clip member is provided having a horizontal extension
portion extending through an aperture in the rear side of the housing,
and a vertical portion extends from the horizontal portion substantially
parallel to the rear side whereby the clip member in combination
with the rear side forms a U-shaped support structure for engaging
the upper edge of a vertical support member such as the upper edge
of a crib or play yard. The clip member is adjustable relative to
the rear side of the housing such that the spacing between the vertical
portion and the rear side of the housing may be varied to accommodate
different thicknesses of supporting members.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent
from the following description, the accompanying drawings, and the
appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the transmitter unit of the present
invention

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the transmitter unit showing
the different positions for the antenna;

FIG. 3 is a partially cut-away front side view showing the pivot
mechanism for the antenna;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4--4 in FIG. 3 to show
the detent and recess portion of the pivot mechanism for the antenna;

FIG. 5 is an elevational partially cut-away sectional view showing
the mechanism for adjusting the spacing of the clip member from
the rear side of the housing; and

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the housing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, the transmitter of the present invention
includes housing 8 having a front side 10, a rear side 12, opposing
upper and lower edges 14, 16 and opposing first and second lateral
edges 18, 20 wherein the edges 14, 16, 18, 20 connect the front
and rear sides 10, 12.

In addition, an antenna 22 is provided positioned within a groove
24 formed adjacent to the intersection between the upper edge 14
and the front face 10 as well as extending into the lateral sides
18, 22. It should be noted that the upper edge 14 is formed having
an arcuate shape extending between the first and second lateral
sides 18, 20 and that the antenna 22 has a shape matching and extending
parallel to the upper edge 14. Further, the antenna 22 includes
opposing first and second ends 26, 28 which extend into the front
housing portion 10.

It should also be noted that the housing 8 is formed having an
upper section 30 and a lower section 32, as shown in FIG. 2, wherein
the upper and lower sections 30, 32 are disposed at an obtuse angle
relative to each other, which angle is preferably 153.degree.. The
lower section 32 carries electronic circuitry for processing signals
received through a microphone 34 located adjacent to an aperture
in the front side 10 (see FIG. 3) and for transmitting a signal
to the parent receiver unit through the antenna 22. The electronic
circuitry used in the present invention for transmitting the signal
to the receiver unit is standard and similar to prior art transmitter
units, and the particulars of the circuitry form no part of the
present invention.

The lower housing portion 32 also carries a power indicator LED
36, an on-off switch 38, an outlet 40 for receiving power from an
AC outlet, an outlet 42 for providing a direct wire connection to
the parent receiver unit and a switch 44 (see FIG. 6) for selecting
one of two preset FM channels for the transmitter unit to operate
on.

In addition, the lower portion 32 includes a base portion 46 forming
a battery compartment for carrying four AA batteries 48, as shown
in FIG. 5. The battery compartment 46 includes a compartment cover
48 having four pad members 50 for engaging a table top surface,
as best seen in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the antenna 22 may be pivoted outwardly away
from the front side 10 of the upper portion 30 to two predetermined
angular positions of either 311/2.degree. or 63.degree.. When the
unit is resting on its pads 50 and the antenna is positioned at
the 63.degree. angle, the antenna 22 will be oriented at a perpendicular
angle relative to the supporting surface that the pads 50 are resting
on. The various positions for the antenna 22 are provided to improve
the signal transmitted for any given position of the transmitter
housing.

As may be seen in FIG. 3, the antenna 22 carries an antenna wire
52 within its interior. The second end 28 of the antenna 22 extends
through an aperture in the upper housing portion 30 and includes
a shoulder portion 54 for engaging an inner edge 56 of the housing
whereby the end 28 is held in place against lateral movement while
being permitted to undergo pivotal movement relative to the upper
housing portion 10.

The first antenna end 26 includes a detent member 58 which is adapted
to engage within recesses 60 formed in a ledge member 62 of the
housing 8 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Thus, the recesses 60
define positive stopping positions for the detent 58 whereby the
antenna 22 may be positively located at predetermined angular positions
relative to the front housing face 10 as the detent 58 moves with
the antenna 22.

The first end 26 of the antenna 22 further includes a sleeve 64
and a coil spring 66 positioned between the sleeve 64 and the ledge
portion 62. The spring 66 biases the first end 26 into the housing
8 such that the detent 58 will be biased to positive engagement
within the recesses 60.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the transmitter unit further includes
a clip member 68 having a horizontal extension 70 and a vertical
extension 72 extending downwardly from the horizontal extension
70 and parallel to the upper rear housing face 12. The horizontal
extension 70 includes a plurality of grooves 73 in an upper surface
thereof. In addition, the housing 8 includes a pawl member 74 for
engaging within the grooves as the horizontal member 70 extends
through an aperture 76 defined in the rear side 12 of the housing
8.

The clip member 68 may be moved into and out of the housing 8 with
the pawl member 74 engaging the various grooves 73 to position the
vertical extension 72 at a plurality of preselected positions as
determined by the cooperating pawl member 74 and grooves 73. Thus,
the clip member 68 in combination with the rear housing side 12
defines a U-shaped engagement portion which may be positioned on
the upper edge of a support structure, and the width of the opening
for engaging the support structure may be varied depending on the
width of the support structure.

In other words, the clip member 68 may be positioned into the housing
8 such that a narrow space is defined between the vertical extension
72 and the rear housing side 12 to locate the transmitter unit on
a thin support structure, such as might be provided by an upper
edge of an outer pocket on a diaper bag. Alternatively, the clip
member 68 may be moved outwardly away from the rear face 12 in order
to allow the unit to be supported on a wider support structure such
as might be provided by the upper edge of a crib or by a rail on
a playpen.

In addition, the unit may be supported on a horizontal surface
by resting the unit with its pads 50 on the surface. In this use
of the unit, the batteries 48 provide a weight for maintaining the
lower portion 32 of the unit in place such that the unit will be
less likely to tip back with the lower portion 32 lifting up.

It should also be noted that the present unit includes an additional
aperture 80 in its back side 12 for receiving a fastener engaged
in a vertical wall whereby the unit may be hung from a vertical
surface.

From the above description, it should be apparent that the present
transmitter unit is adapted to be used in a variety of locations
such that the unit may be rested on a horizontal surface, supported
from a vertical surface, or hung from a supporting structure. In
addition, it should be apparent that the unit also provides a convenient
means for adjusting the antenna outwardly away from the housing
whereby the reception by the receiving unit may be improved.

While the form of apparatus herein described constitutes a preferred
embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention
is not limited to this precise form of apparatus, and that changes
may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention
which is defined in the appended claims.